An unexpected gift

Unknown fan gives Adams choir $200 'for the music.'

Unknown fan gives Adams choir $200 'for the music.'

February 01, 2006|JIM MEENAN Tribune Staff Writer

New dresses, new vests for the performers. Twenty-five students leading the way in a responsible, cohesive manner. Yes, it's been a very good year for the Adams High School Show Choir and its director, Don Moely, better known to most at Adams as "Doc" for his Ph.D. And the Christmas tree of a good year even received a star on top when an unusual incident occurred while the choir was performing for the River Park Business Association at Allie's Cafe over the holiday. While the choir was giving a 30-minute show, a man reached into his pocket and handed over what Moely thought was one bill. "I conduct a couple of numbers," Moely recalled. "And they go do their 20-minute show on their own to taped music." He takes a seat. "A guy sitting toward the front and behind me on my left about three chairs back was a distinguished gentleman," Moely said. "After we performed about five minutes, he lays down a folded bill and says 'this is for the music.'" Moely said he made a point not to gawk at the money, inconspicuously put it in his shirt pocket under his coat and said "thank you." He saw a 1 and a 0 and thought the man had given him a $10 bill, a thoughtful gesture. The choir performs about 15 times in December and other than schools where they perform for free, generally gets paid $100 to $150 by various organizations they entertain. This man, however, did not represent the River Park Business Association, which also made a donation for the performance. It was much later when he got home that Moely got the surprise ---- twice over. He took the bill out of his pocket. "I looked carefully and 'oh my gosh, it was a $100 bill.' That blew me away," he said. He then got up the next morning and took it out of his pocket and looked at it again. It wasn't one $100 bill but two. "I was shocked," he said. "The show choir was equally impressed." He was in a hurry that day at Allie's as they had two more concerts to perform, so he never found out who the man was. "I would like to say 'thank you, thank you for enjoying our music,'" he said. "We will put it to good use for extra music or sound equipment or costumes." Moely said they had already purchased new dresses for the girls in the choir at $120 apiece with the students paying half, same with the vests for the boys that were $45. "We do have a lot of talent and we want to show it off the best way possible," he said. The gift comes for a team that appears worthy. "I think I should resign next year," Moely said praising his 13 seniors. "It's just a great group of kids, an amazing class." He stresses a positive attitude and teamwork to his students. "You have to learn to work with people you don't always agree with," he tells them. "You've got a talent from God, now don't mess it up by being negative in class." Now in his 12th year at Adams, the former choir director at Lake Michigan College for 20 years said he's enjoying it very much. "Just tell people that Don Moely is really excited about the fine, talented people he gets to work with every day," he said. "I am enjoying it very much. This is one of my really outstanding show choirs." Next up for the group is the Indiana State School Music Association-sponsored festival at Concord in April. The season may end there if Adams does not advance against tough competition, but it won't matter for Moely. Back in December his team already got an unexpected star by which to mark its season.Staff writer Jim Meenan: jmeenan@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6342